“The first retail-bound volume shipments of Apple Inc.’s hotly anticipated iPhone device arrived successfully in the United States this past weekend, touching down quietly at a handful of drop locations just six days before the device is due to go on sale at nearly 2000 Apple and AT&T retail locations,” Kasper Jade reports for AppleInsider.
“Awaiting the freight at each location on Sunday were armed personnel, who were reportedly hired by Apple through its courier’s ground handling agent and then cleared by the Transportation Security Administration. Armed guards are extremely unusual for freight coming out of the Asian sector, those familiar with the matter explained, and are typically reserved for shipments containing riches such as gold and diamonds,” Jade reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “mango” for the heads up.]
@ TowerTone,
Yeah, Geraldo could get past the guards to open up the truck and the cases of iPhone to find them…. Empty!!!
It was just a decoy after all … the iPhones were actually brought over in cases marked . . ???
Gold – one ounce is $651.10
Diamonds – 1/4 carat is $575
iPhone – priceless!
razor said,
“i dont think the 2 year contract is concrete as of this point in time.
hopefully there will be a pre-paid version.”
What makes you think the 2 year contract is not required? Of any information Apple and AT&T have given, it’s that a 2 year contract WILL be required. Why would AT&T have it any other way? They’ll sell every single iPhone they can get with a 2 year contract.
Don’t ever expect an iPhone with a prepaid plan. That’s not the market Apple or AT&T want. They want people who will spend money on extras, like internet access. AT&T wants people who, when they go over their plans, will keep using the phone and automatically be charged more (and they’ll pay the bill).
You won’t get that with prepaid iPhones. With the monthly service contract, Apple and AT&T can control the services and what goes on the iPhone.
It was just a decoy after all … the iPhones were actually brought over in cases marked . . ???
“Furniture, executive office. C/O Microsoft Corporation. URGENT.”.
iPhone Truckers!
This is going to be a fun week…
btw, not to fear, Verizon has something like 18 “music-capable” phones and will be adding more. Ummm… okay… thanks for playing. Yeah, people have absolutely no preferences about their “music-capable” devices. Commodity feature. Well, actually thanks for not playing.
The only thing that will save them is that Apple’s sales goasl (for now) are rather modest. Or if Apple fscks it up with quality issues. Because the others, they are clueless…
The volume of commodities that go “missing” between dispatch and delivery, is a billion dollar business.
The black market world is very, very organized – sure the stuff arrives and it looks just like the kit you ordered, be it electronic parts or medical supplies.
It is not until later that you might discover “when things go tits up” that they are in fact, fake, cheap and faulty copies of the genuine, superior and expensive products that you paid for.
Once goods have left a manufacturer, there are zillions of places for goods to be intersected and tampered with.
Still “armed personnel” makes good copy.
“…are typically reserved for shipments containing riches such as gold and diamonds”
In other news, Apple announces an upgrade to the upgrade – the optical quality glass on the iPhone has now been replaced by a solid diamond screen.
Jobs: “Sure, it’s slippery like Enderle says, but now it won’t matter if you drop it. Unless you’re worried about cracking the sidewalk”